Chapter 127: He Even Does Facial Surgery [4] -Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
With a strange sound, blood began to be drawn from Dongpa's arm.
At the same time, Dongpa's face twisted as much as it possibly could.
He looked as though he hated it more than death itself, but he could not bring himself to voice any complaints.
He knew very well that he had survived thanks to this treatment.
Besides, it was not the sort of atmosphere where anything he said would be heard.
"Hey! You're pressing too hard!"
"Yes, yes."
"Yeoni too! If you crush the artery like that, all of this will have been for nothing!"
"S-sorry."
"Don't just talk. Do it right, all of you. Hm?"
"Yes."
For one thing, Kanghyeok was in the middle of completely losing it.
They said there were people who got excited at the sight of blood.
Kanghyeok was exactly that sort right now.
"Suture!"
"H-here..."
"How can you let go of it!"
"Yes, yes, sir."
How was a person supposed to hand over the suture and press the artery at the same time?
He was the one making impossible demands, then shouting about them.
Usually, that was the kind of behavior Kanghyeok hated most.
But right now, it really was not a situation that could be helped.
Of all times, the heart has to stop holding out right here.
If the breathing rate was lowered too much, and the heart was strained because of it, this sort of thing could occasionally happen.
The heart would fail to endure and start beating wildly and irregularly.
Since it was an artificially induced arrhythmia, it would settle quickly once the cause was removed.
The problem lay in how to settle it.
"Makbong! His heart is still irregular! Why aren't you forcing air in faster!"
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Makbong was forcing air in with the veins in his neck bulging as though they were about to burst.
There was no need for him to say he was doing it. Anyone could see he was doing his utmost.
There was no way Kanghyeok did not know that.
How could he not?
The ragged sound of gasping was pounding against his ears without even the rhythm of rhyme.
Damn it. Now his blood pressure is too high instead.
Makbong was no longer counting breaths and was simply forcing air in without pause.
So naturally, the intrathoracic pressure had no choice but to rise madly.
That increased the blood pressure as well, and the blood began to spurt.
Whenever Kanghyeok tried to suture even a little, blood splashed in every direction.
Will Dongpa alone be enough?
Dongpa's face had already turned so yellow that if they drew any more, he might die.
Thinking coldly about it, they had not even drawn a full 300 milliliters yet.
His physical condition was a wreck.
How could he not be like this when he's been taking steroids himself too?
Dongpa could be stubborn, but he was not truly a bad man.
At the very least, before using medicine on a patient, he had tried it on himself first.
That was how he had discovered the steroid-heavy medicine, so Dongpa's steroid intake up to now was truly unmatched by anyone else.
At this point, one could say he had no hope at all of living a long, healthy life.
"Huff... I... am... fine... Master... hurry..."
Dongpa saw Kanghyeok looking him in the eye and mistook it for deep concern over him.
So, with his voice trembling as much as it could, he nodded repeatedly.
What is this, a war movie?
Anyone who saw him would think he had taken a Japanese sword on Kanghyeok's behalf.
Meanwhile, Yeoni, who actually had been cut by a blade, was enduring just fine.
Even having blood drawn would probably have been easier for her than for Dongpa.
Forget it. If it gets desperate, I'll just lay Dolseok down.
In an instant, Dolseok had been demoted from first assistant to blood bag.
He knew nothing of this and was diligently assisting.
"Young Master, please suture it first! If it really doesn't work... then just cut it off!"
"Uh, wait a moment. The heart is starting to stabilize now. Just wait a little longer."
"Ah, yes, yes."
If there was bleeding during an arrhythmia, the situation was likely to worsen further.
That was especially true in a situation like this one, where blood was bursting from a severed artery.
If the speed of blood loss was too sudden and too fast, the heart would not have enough time to adapt.
Then, instead of an arrhythmia that merely passed by like this, it could truly become a disaster.
"Okay. It's fine now. Good... Blood is going to splash a bit, but don't all make a fuss."
"What should I do?"
The one asking, panting for breath, was Makbong.
Now he truly looked as though he did not understand anything anymore.
He had done exactly as he was told over and over, and he really seemed to have done it well, yet all he got was scolded, so it was only natural.
"What do you mean, what should you do? Keep doing what you were doing."
"So then... should I raise the rate? Or lower it?"
"Just keep it exactly at a normal rate. Don't slow it."
"Yes, Young Master."
To lower the blood pressure, slowing the breathing again would indeed help.
But after seeing the arrhythmia once, Kanghyeok had completely given up that idea.
There was no medicine for arrhythmia here, no electric defibrillator, nothing.
"No more questions now, right? Proceeding."
"Yes, yes."
"Hoo."
After taking a deep breath, Kanghyeok picked up the suturing instrument.
The tip of the needle caught in it trembled faintly, then quickly stilled.
Kanghyeok's eyes had gone cold as well.
There was no trace left of the panic he had shown earlier.
Now... I connect it.
Even if there was bleeding, even if the heart was pounding wildly, he decided he would connect the vessel first.
And strangely, as soon as he made that decision, the agitation that had filled him until now subsided.
"Let go."
"Huh?"
"The vessel. Let go."
"Oh. Yes."
Yeoni and Dolseok released the artery they had been holding almost at the same moment.
At once, blood began to spurt in long streams from the cut end of the vessel closest to the heart.
"Ugh."
Now that he suddenly had nothing to do for the moment, even Dolseok let out a groan.
Yeoni also looked at Kanghyeok, unable to hide her alarm.
No, everyone in the room was staring at Kanghyeok.
Everyone except Kanghyeok himself.
Got it.
Paying no attention whatsoever to the blood, he seized the cut end of the vessel with forceps and pulled it toward him.
Then he immediately pierced the vessel wall with the needle and began joining it to the cut end on the other side.
-Pak.
There was something somewhat different from Kanghyeok's usual handwork.
For all his overflowing confidence, Kanghyeok's actual technique had always been incomparably smooth.
That was why some people had even described his surgeries as beautiful or elegant.
But none of them would have been able to say such things if they saw him operating now.
-Peok.
With rough impacts, the needle punched through the vessel wall again and again.
To someone who did not know better, it would have looked like he was simply gouging up the vessel recklessly.
In fact, that was exactly how it appeared to Yeoni, Dongpa, and Yeoju.
But Dolseok alone could glimpse at least a little of the realm beyond that.
Young Master... truly is an incredible master physician...
Even with blood spraying in all directions, he did not miss a single critical point and drove the needle in exactly where it needed to go.
It looked as though he were yanking the thread violently once he passed it through, but in fact, he never damaged the vessel wall by overstraining it.
Thanks to that, the blood that had been bursting out with such maddening force had now almost completely stopped.
-Peok.
Kanghyeok still continued the suturing without a word.
Only after the vessel had been fully reconnected did he finally speak.
"It's done."
For someone who had reconnected a vessel without any proper equipment, it was an extremely brief remark.
If anything, the others at his side made much more of a fuss.
"Y-young Master. Is this really possible?"
"As expected... Young Master is incredible."
"Master, this unworthy student Dongpa is... deeply moved."
"It was so fast I couldn't even draw it. Just once more..."
Meanwhile, Kanghyeok merely kept his eyes closed.
No matter how much they praised him, he did not hear a single thing.
The reason was simple.
He was far too busy praising himself.
As expected... I'm a genius.
To reconnect an artery in a place with not even one decent instrument.
And not just any artery, but one that had been in an utter mess, with an aneurysm as large as a five-hundred-won coin.
The sight encouraging him even more lay just beneath the artery.
The nerve that had been heavily compressed was slowly returning to its proper shape.
The sudden pain that had tormented Kim Simin would now disappear.
To completely cure trigeminal neuralgia like this...
Even the word genius was not enough.
Kanghyeok kept focusing on his own self-congratulation for quite some time after that, then finally opened his eyes.
Even then, the group was still making a big fuss.
It was thanks, at least in part, to how much their overall level had improved through anatomy practice.
"You are incredible."
"Haha."
"Truly... Young Master is a master physician."
"Hahaha."
"It is an honor to have met you, Master."
"Hahahahaha."
Kanghyeok's refreshing laughter did not remain only in the room, but rang out all the way outside.
Even Hwang Yungil, who had been in the sarangchae and had jumped out in alarm at the sudden shouting, could hear it.
He had been pacing in front of the room for quite some time, thinking that something terrible had happened, but when the delayed sound of laughter reached him, he felt no small amount of relief.
Surely there could not be a physician laughing so heartily if his patient had gone wrong.
And sure enough, a little later, he was greeted by Kanghyeok's bright face.
"Haha. Elder Hwang Yungil."
"Y-yes. How did it go?"
A guardian was bound to feel anxious until hearing the result directly from the physician, even if the operation seemed to have gone well.
Hwang Yungil was no exception, and the voice with which he asked trembled considerably.
Wearing that same hearty smile, Kanghyeok pointed toward the room.
"It went extremely well. He is still asleep for now, but he will wake up soon."
"Is that so? Good, very good."
"Yes. It was a very difficult operation, but fortunately elder brother endured it well."
"That is because the physician was so eminent."
"Haha."
Kanghyeok did not even bother with false modesty.
After all, he really had just completed an extraordinary surgery.
He remembered how, just in case, he had tapped Simin's cheek a few times and gotten no response whatsoever.
Which meant the useless abnormal stimulus was gone.
As expected, I'm a genius.
Kanghyeok still had not emerged from the world of self-admiration as he stood facing Hwang Yungil.
So naturally, his words were tinged with no small amount of self-praise.
"I'm glad you introduced him to me."
"You did well. No other physician would have even dared lay a hand on him."
"Heheh. I do so want to see him wake up soon."
"There's nothing to see and nothing to worry about. It's perfect."
Under normal circumstances, this was the sort of speech that would have made someone think, Has he gone mad?
But Hwang Yungil too was half drunk on Kanghyeok's grandeur, so he found nothing strange about it.
The only thing on his mind was how to get Kanghyeok to go to Japan with him.
What should I do.... Ah, right, he's close with Lord Ryu Seong-ryong. I should ask through him.
Hwang Yungil was of the Westerners, while Ryu Seong-ryong was of the Easterners, so in truth, they were almost like sworn enemies.
But Ryu Seong-ryong was a man who knew how to distinguish public matters from private ones.
If it was for the sake of the country, there was no way he would refuse.
From what I hear, this Kanghyeok fellow is also particularly patriotic, so he'll probably agree. If a physician of this caliber comes along, then no matter how rough the journey is, there'll be nothing to worry about.
Unaware of Hwang Yungil's inner thoughts, Kanghyeok went on boasting about himself.
"At that time, the man's skull had cracked open..."
"Huh. You're saying you saved a patient whose skull bone had broken?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. And there was even smallpox going around at the time."
"Ah, right. You were the one who dealt with smallpox too."
Each time Kanghyeok listed one of the cases he had handled, Hwang Yungil only strengthened his resolve.
Yes. I absolutely must take this man with me!
Just as Kanghyeok had begun talking about surgery for glaucoma, Dolseok called out to the two of them.
"Young Master! Sir! The patient is awake!"
"Oh, right. I'm coming now. Sir, let's go."
"Ah, yes."
The two of them hurried back into the room.
"Huh."
Hwang Yungil stopped with his mouth open, unable even to step all the way inside.
That was because the scene in the room was utterly different from before the surgery.
The ceiling and walls alike were splattered with blood, so for an ordinary man like Yungil, the reaction was only natural.
The strange thing was that if so much blood had been lost, Kim Simin ought to have looked pale.
Yet he looked perfectly fine.
If anything, the one whose complexion looked worse was a loafer-looking young man who seemed to have done nothing at all.
Standing awkwardly in the doorway, Yungil finally asked, "M-my friend, Simin. Are you all right?"
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